The Mirror
by i beat the dragon
Summary: Chamber of Secrets AU. What happens when Harry finds a strange mirror hidden in a cabinet in Borgin and Burke's?
1. Chapter 1

**A short story on what could have happened on the day when Harry got out at the wrong floo and hid in a cabinet.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling no matter how much I would like him to be mine.**

The Mirror

A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, a bloodstained pack of cards, and a staring glass eye. Evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley. The sooner he got out of here, the better. Nose still stinging where it had hit the hearth, Harry made his way swiftly and silently toward the door, but before he'd got halfway toward it, two people appeared on the other side of the glass - and one of them was the very last person Harry wanted to meet when he was lost, covered in soot, and wearing broken glasses: Draco Malfoy. Harry looked quickly around and spotted a large black cabinet to his left; he shot inside it and pulled the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer through. Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop. – _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

Harry hurried into the cabinet not wanting to be seen by the Malfoys. If they found him he knew it would not turn out well. While the cabinet was not very spacious, Harry was used to small spaces since he lived in the cupboard under the stairs for most of his life. As he entered he noticed a small hand mirror that shone in the dim lighting. Curious, he picked it up, wanting to examine it closely. At that moment he started to experience a strange feeling, almost as if something was tugging at his navel.

Harry could not figure out what was happening until the spinning finally stopped and he fell to the ground. When he looked up he realized he was not in the cabinet as the originally was.

'Where am I?' he wondered.

The first thing Harry noticed was the unbearable chill that was in the air and the sound of insane rants. He was in some sort of cell and it didn't look like he was alone either. In the corner of the cell was—a dog? Harry stared at the large black dog, still unsure what had just happened.

Suddenly the dog woke up and looked at Harry in the strangest manner.

'It almost looks as if it recognizes me, but that can't be possible. It's just a dog.'

The dog continued to stare at him for a minute until all of the sudden he turned into a human.

'He must be one of those things that Professor McGonagall is.' Harry thought, remembering his first Transfiguration lesson.

The dark haired man stood up.

"James?" he croaked, for he had not used his voice in many years.

"No, I'm Harry. Who-who are you?"

"Harry? Is that really you?" the dark man asked.

Harry nodded, still confused. 'Who was this man?'

Suddenly, the man walked up to him and embraced him.

"Oh Harry, it is you. I haven't seen you since you were a baby." the man sobbed.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but who are you?" Harry asked.

The man broke into a sad smile, the first in over ten years. "I am Sirius Black. I am your godfather."

**AN: That's the first chapter. I am not sure if I should just leave it as it is or write a few more chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling**

_Last time:_

"_I don't mean to sound rude, but who are you?" Harry asked. _

_The man broke into a sad smile, the first in over ten years. "I am Sirius Black. I am your godfather."_

Chapter 2:

'My godfather. I never knew that I have a godfather. Why wasn't I told this before? Surely someone must have known.' Harry thought, completely forgetting that he was in a strange cold cell because of the shocking news he had just received.

"Why did I have to stay with the Dursleys if you are my godfather? Did you not want me?" Harry asked, slightly sad at the thought of another person who did not want him in his or her life.

"No Harry, of course I wanted to raise you." Sirius said. "But as you can see there were a few things keeping me from being able to have custody of you."

Harry looked around, finally remembering that he was in a cell.

"Where are we exactly?" Harry asked. "It looks like we are in a prison."

"Well, we are actually. How did you even get here? You didn't come the normal way a visitor would come. They also would not be allowed to go into the cells. Does anyone know that you are here?" Sirius asked, finally getting over his shock at seeing Harry to realize that his godson just _appeared_ into his _prison cell_.

"I don't think that anyone knows where I am. You see, I was flooing to Diagon Alley from my friend Ron's house, I have never used floo before, and I guess I pronounced it wrong because I ended up landing in this creepy shop. As I was trying to find a way out Malfoy, he is sort of my enemy in school, and his dad came into the shop. I didn't want them to see me so I went to hid in a cabinet. When I opened it up, I saw this mirror and went to pick it up. Then I felt this weird feeling and ended up here with you." Harry said, confusion lacing his voice as he spoke in a panicked tone.

"You probably landed in Borgin and Burke's. That can happen if you mispronounce Diagon Alley. It happened to me when I was younger as well." Sirius said. "As for the mirror, it sounds like a portkey."

"What's a portkey?" Harry asked, interrupting Sirius.

"A portkey is an enchanted object that when touched will transport the one or ones who touch it to anywhere on the globe decided upon by the enchanter." Sirius explained. "A portkey can be any sort of seemly harmless object, like a football or a dolphin."

"A dolphin" Harry asked.

"Well not actually a dolphin but you get the point, right?" Sirius said in a rather gleeful tone. "In your case it just so happened to be a mirror. But why would someone have a portkey that would send someone to my cell in Azkaban?"

"You never did explain why you where in prison." Harry said.

"Oh yeah, guess I forgot to tell you didn't I? Well, I was a bit busy trying to figure out how you got here. Anyway, get comfortable because it's a long story, not that you can get very comfortable in here." Sirius said.

"It all starts with a group of four Gryffindors. I became friends with your father on the Hogwarts Express in the beginning of our first year. All of the compartments were full and so when I saw him sitting by himself, I asked him if I could sit with him. He came from a Light family where as all of my family were known for being Dark. He said yes and by the end of the trip we became friends along with two other boys our age, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." Sirius said. "The four of us became best friends throughout the years. We caused more trouble than anyone had ever done before. James and I got ourselves into more detentions in one year than most people had in their entire lives. We became illegal animagi. I became a black dog, as you saw earlier, James became a stag, and Peter became a rat. We called ourselves the Marauders." Sirius took a break to recollect his thoughts.

"A few years after we had graduated Hogwarts, you were born. James and Lily picked me to be your godfather. I was so happy and I promised that I would do anything for you. I even promised to turn you into a proper Marauder. Your mother wasn't quite happy at that promise. Nothing happened until about a year after you were born. Dumbledore came to James and Lily saying that Voldemort was going to come after you. He wanted them to go into hiding under the Fidelus charm. It is a charm that allows a person to never be found unless their Secret Keeper tells someone. James and Lily picked me to be their Secret Keeper. At first I agreed, but a few months after I realized that I would be the obvious choice. Everyone knew I was James' best friend. I didn't want Voldemort to find your family because they managed to torture the answers out of me, so I decided that they should switch Secret Keepers. That's where I made my first mistake."

Sirius's eyes were filled with regret and sorrow as he continued his sad story.

"I told James and Lily that they should make Peter their Secret Keeper. He would be a less obvious choice. No one would expect it to be Peter. He was always so quiet that everyone would forget about him. So they made the switch. In order to keep their location secret, we told no one of the switch in Secret Keeper. That was my next mistake."

"Peter turned out to betray us all and became a death eater, a follower of Voldemort. After we made him the Secret Keeper, he went to Voldemort with the location. That Halloween Voldemort came to your house and killed your parents and tried to kill you. When I found out what had happened, I knew that Peter had betrayed us. I went to look for him, to make him pay for betraying us. I managed to get him cornered but he decided to blow up the street behind him killing 13 muggles before cutting off his finger and changing into his rat animangus form. At that point the only thing I could do was laugh. How could we possibly be fooled like that? How could Peter do that to us, his best friends? He was the last person anyone would think of that would become a traitor. The Aurors came and arrested me; after all I was just standing there by myself, a blown up street behind me. So now I have been in Azkaban ever since." Sirius said sadly.

"But you were innocent." Harry said. "Didn't they give you a trial?"

"They didn't give me a trial. I was the only one at the crime scene. All the evidence pointed to me. I was from a notoriously Dark family. Everyone thought it was a matter of time before I showed my true colors." Sirius said. "They were surprised that I didn't turn to the Dark side sooner."

"That doesn't seem fair. You did not do anything wrong and yet you have been thrown in jail for years now without having a chance to explain your side of the story." Harry said.

"Well, that's the way the ministry was back then, still is. And so that is why I was never able to take care of you." Sirius sighed. "No one has ever been able to escape from Azkaban."

"So what exactly is Azkaban? I know it is some sort of prison." Harry asked, wondering how no one had been able to escape it, people escaped from muggle prisons all the time.

"Azkaban is the wizarding prison." Sirius explained. "It is guarded by a fleet of Dementors."

"What's a Dementor?" Harry asked, interrupting Sirius once again.

"A Dementor is-" Sirius was cut off by a sudden sense of cold and the feeling that he would never being able to be happy again.

The Dementors had come to do their rounds of Azkaban.

The last thing that Harry heard was the sound of a woman screaming before his world faded into darkness.

**AN: That's all for chapter 2. Inspiration struck last night and this chapter was born. I don't know when it will be updated next. Whenever inspiration strikes, I guess. P.S. Did you find the AVPM references? They are totally awesome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling**

_Last time:_

"_A Dementor is-" Sirius was cut off by a sudden sense of cold and the feeling that he would never being able to be happy again. _

_The Dementors had come to do their rounds of Azkaban._

_The last thing that Harry heard was the sound of a woman screaming before his world faded into darkness._

Chapter 3:

"-ry? Harry? Wake up Harry." Sirius said.

Harry stirred at the sound of his name being called repeatedly.

"That's it Harry. Easy does it." he said, helping Harry get up off the floor. "You had a pretty bad reaction to the Dementors."

"I wish I had some chocolate I could give you." Sirius said aloud, though it seemed to be directed more to himself than to Harry.

"What happened?" Harry asked Sirius, still slightly dazed from passing out. "Who screamed?"

"You fainted when the Dementors passed by my cell. You seem to be badly affected by them." Sirius answered. "No one screamed, Harry. It must have been your imagination."

"But… It sounded so real." Harry said insistently. "What exactly is a Dementor anyway? You never got a chance to finish what you were saying about them."

"Dementors are the guards of Azkaban. They are these black cloaked beings that fly around and feed off of good and happy feelings. When the pass by, it feels as if you will never be happy again." Sirius shivered at the thought of the Dementors. "People with really bad memories get affected the most by them.

"That sounds horrible!" Harry exclaimed.

"But it gets worse. After they feed off of all your good memories and there are none left, they will suck out your soul. If this happens you don't die, you simply live on, emotionless, a complete shell of the person you once were." Sirius said sadly. "Most people go crazy within a month or two. I think that the only reason that I am still sane is that I know that I am innocent and that it was Peter who did it, who should be in here, not me."

"Why do they allow these things to be here? People don't deserve to be treated like that, even if they are criminals." Harry said, thinking that the Dementors seemed like a rather strange, cruel, and unusual, continuous punishment that no one should have to endure.

"The Ministry does not care about us. At the time of my incarceration, anyone they suspected to be a Death Eater was thrown into Azkaban without a trial whether they were guilty or not. And even some of those who were guilty of being a Death Eater escaped imprisonment in Azkaban through their connections to the ministry and a little bribe." Sirius sneered disdainfully. "Lucius Malfoy is a prime example of these people. The ministry is corrupt and it does not look like it will be changing any time soon."

"When I get out of here, I will find some way to get you a trial so you can be released." Harry said passionately. "It's not fair that you have been stuck in here for all these years and yet you are innocent of the crimes you were sentenced for and the real murderer is on the loose somewhere."

"Thank you Harry. I know that you will try your hardest. But speaking about getting out of here, how are you going to get out of here?" Sirius asked him. "It would look strange if one of the few human guards here saw you in here with me. There would be a lot of questions that they would ask."

"I am not quite sure. Maybe somehow that portkey that brought me here will somehow take me back. But I am not even sure how it brought me here of all places." Harry said, clearly confused and frustrated all at the same time.

"Do you have the mirror with you Harry?"Sirius asked. "It might give us a clue about how to get you back."

"Yeah, I think that it is back over there." Harry pointed to the spot where he had first landed. "I'll go get it.

Harry got up from where he was sitting in the cell floor with Sirius and walked over to the dark corner. Now that he was seeing the cell for the second time he noticed some smaller details he missed when he first arrived in Azkaban. One of the first things he realized was that the entire cell seemed to be filled with cobwebs. It looked as if it had never been cleared up in a long time and it added to the rather creepy effect of the cell. He also noticed a small puddle of water in the ground that seemed to becoming from a crack in the fall. The smells of the ocean air lead Harry to believe that Azkaban was in the middle of the ocean on some undiscovered or abandoned island.

'Well, that eliminates another way to get out of here. There is no way I would be able to swim back to London. Even if I could it would take days to get there and then some in order travel on land back to Diagon Alley.' Harry thought sullenly.

Harry observed all these details in a matter of the few seconds that it took to reach the mirror. He picked it up and took it back to where Sirius was sitting waiting to see the mirror.

Harry handed Sirius the mirror for him to observe.

"Hmm… "Sirius muttered. "It looks familiar. But it can't be. Could really it be? No. But how would it have gotten there?" By this point Sirius was talking mostly to himself, harry wondered if Azkaban was affecting him more than he had let off in the beginning.

"Well there is only one way to find out." Sirius said a little bit louder, intending for Harry to hear and listen to. "I want you to hold this mirror and do not let go. If this works you should get back to where you were before."

"If it should work, why don't you hold on too? This way we will both get out of this horrible place." Harry said, wanting Sirius to be able to leave as much as he himself wanted to leave.

"I suppose we could try. The worst that can happen is that this mirror is not what I think it is and nothing happens." He said. "Alright, hold on tightly. This should work like a portkey. Okay on three. One. Two. Three. _Mischief Managed_."

The air around them swirled in a circular motion as they felt the all too familiar pull of a portkey being activated.

'It's working.' Harry thought 'Now all I have to do is get Sirius a trial from the Ministry and then he can truly be free. I am sure I will be able to do so. Like Sirius said, the ministry is corrupt. They want me on their side, a poster-boy, supporting the Ministry fully. Being the Boy-Who-Lived will have finally paid off for once in my life.'

At that moment both Harry and Sirius crashed to the floor as the portkey brought them to their new location. Looking around, Harry realized that they had returned to where he previously was.

"This is the same place I was earlier." Harry said excitedly. "It really worked then. What was that mirror anyway? You seemed to know what it was before when we were back in the cell."

"That was your father's mirror. We each had one and we would use them to talk to each other. They were really helpful and we were stuck in separate detentions. We tried to add a spell to them which would allow us to be able to reach each other. When we tested it, it did not work. Then things got so crazy that we never tried to improve it and kind of forgot about it." Sirius said sheepishly. Suddenly Sirius's face changed as he realized something of great importance. "Thinking about it now, I believe that we would have needed to be in a situation that we desperately needed to get out of. That's probably why it did not work for us when we tried it."

'I wish that we realized this earlier. It could have saved James and Lily that day. I would not have ever even been in Azkaban in the first place.' Sirius thought sullenly. 'If only we had realized…'

Sirius seemed to be lost in the past. Harry, realizing that they were still in some random store that the Malfoys shopped at, decided to interrupt Sirius's own chain of thought.

"Sirius we need to get out of here before someone notices us."

Sirius snapped out of his trance. "You're right Harry. We need to get out of here." He looked around the room. "This looks like it is Borgin and Burkes."

"Borgin and Burkes? I have never heard of it before. Is it in Diagon Alley?" Harry asked. He could not remember passing a Borgin and Burkes before.

"It is located in Knockturn Alley, which is like Diagon Alley only where dark wizards and witches shop. I don't want you to ever come here again. It is extremely dangerous." Sirius warned, concerned over Harry's safety. "I am going to transform into Padfoot, my animangus form, and we are going to get out of here. I show you the way out. Just follow me."

"Okay, but what will happen when we get back to Diagon Alley? What should I say? How will I explain why I suddenly have a dog with me?" Harry asked.

"When we get back to the alley, you can tell your friends that you ended up in Knockturn Alley, got lost, and could not find your way back. That will explain the hour or so I imagine that you were gone." Sirius reasoned. "You can say you found me on your way back and have decided to keep me or something similar to that."

"That sounds believable. Okay let's go." Harry said; ready to get out of this creepy shop.

Sirius transformed into Padfoot and the two of them set of into the heart of Knockturn Alley. Harry followed Padfoot passed many shady figures until he stopped suddenly. He barked signifying that they had reached the entrance to Diagon Alley. They walked through, back to the safety of the alley.

**AN: Hey guys. Happy Ides of March. Here's a chapter to celebrate. It's my longest chapter yet. Just shy of 2,000 words. Sorry it took so long, lack of inspiration and mountains of homework can do that to a person. Reviews would be totally awesome. Like always next chapter will be out eventually. I seem to be posting once a month. Maybe it's a pattern. Anyway, I'm ranting now. Thanks for reading everyone. You're all awesome.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling**

_**This chapter will give the Weasley's point of view since the story began. It will start just after Harry has entered the floo at the Burrow. It's going to be a slightly shorter chapter since it will be mostly filler.**_

_**This chapter is dedicated to . Happy Birthday Fred, though by the time I post this it will probably be a day or two late. I gave you speaking lines in this chapter. Aren't I totally awesome?**_

Chapter 4

Weasley Interlude:

Ron stared at the fireplace waiting for Harry to show up. Everyone else had gone through. They were just waiting for Harry and his mum, who said she would be the last to go through the floo. When his mum appeared in the floo instead of his best mate, he knew something was wrong. Harry was supposed to go first not his mum.

"Mum where's Harry?" he asked, concerned for his friend. "Wasn't he supposed to floo here before you?"

Molly glanced around the room in search of Harry.

"Arthur has he come through yet?" she asked.

Arthur shook his head. "No, we haven't seen him yet. He must have gotten out at the wrong floo grate."

"Oh dear, that poor boy." she said. "I hope he is somewhere close by. We should all split up and go look for him"

"Ron, Fred, and George start searching near the apothecary. Ginny, your mother and I will look near Flourish and Blotts. We'll meet back at Gringotts in an hour." Arthur instructed, concerned for Harry.

There were many fires in which one could end up in. The red-haired family split up and began searching Diagon Alley, all hoping that he was somewhere safe and close by. But, with Harry's luck and his uncanny habit of having trouble always find him, they wouldn't find it strange if he ended up somewhere dark and dangerous, or even in another country.

HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP

Ron, Fred, and George split apart from their family in order to head for the apothecary, looking for Harry on the way there. Diagon Alley was more crowded as usual due to the rapidly approaching school year. The streets were filled with students and their parents scrambling around trying to get everything they needed for the year to come. It would be hard for them to find anyone in the crowd. Every time one of the three young Weasleys saw a black haired boy, they would pray that it would be Harry, only to be disappointed every single time when they saw it was not who they were looking for.

About half an hour into their search for Harry, Ron saw a flash of brown bushy hair as Hermione ran up to Ron and pulled him into a hug.

"It's good to see you again Ron. How was your summer?" Hermione asked.

"It was good; it's nice not to have Potions with that greasy git of a professor and those slimy snakes every day." Ron said in a tone expressing both relief and annoyance at the same time.

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed. "You shouldn't talk about a professor like that. It's going to get you in trouble one of these days."

"I can't help it. He is a rotten teacher who favors his own house and has it out for all of Gryffindor." Ron said. "Have you by any chance seen Harry at all today?"

"No, I haven't seen him since the end of the school year. Wasn't he staying with you for the end of the summer?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he is staying with us until we go back to Hogwarts, but he had an accident with the floo. We think that he must have ended up coming out at the wrong floo grate." Ron said. "Now the whole family is looking for him. We just hope that he didn't end up somewhere where he could be in danger."

"Where have you checked so far?" Hermione asked. "Is it possible for him not to be somewhere in Diagon Alley?"

"Mum, Dad, and Ginny are checking near Flourish and Blotts while Fred, George and I have been searching the area up until the apothecary." Ron answered back. "He might not be in Diagon Alley but hopefully he didn't miss the right grate by too many. If he is not in Diagon Alley, he might have ended up in Knockturn Alley, which wouldn't be good. All of the dark witches and wizards shop there."

"Well, I'll help you look. Maybe with an extra pair of eyes we will find him sooner. It's so crowded here that you might have missed him." Hermione said.

"We'll search until we hit the apothecary." Ron stated. "By that time he will hopefully be found, if not we will still need to meet my parents by Gringotts Bank."

HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP-HP

The three Weasleys and Hermione searched all throughout Diagon Alley in order to find their missing best friend. They were almost to the apothecary and yet there was still no sign of Harry and their hour was almost up. They went inside of the apothecary only to be disappointed when Harry was still not found.

"We should start to head back to Gringotts. We don't want Mum and Dad to think that we have gotten lost and are now missing as well." Fred said.

"Yeah for all we know, they might have found him by now and are simply waiting for us." George said trying to keep their hopes up. He didn't like to see his family be so sad. It didn't seem normal for their usual crazy and fun family to be so somber.

The four children left the apothecary with feelings of sadness and anxiety, wondering what had happened to their friend. They started to head back to meet with the rest of their family when Ron saw a shape moving within the shadows.

"Look, what's that over there?" Ron exclaimed.

"I don't see anything Ron. It's just your imagination." Hermione said.

"There it is again, over there near that alley way." Ron insisted. "I saw something moving."

"I think that's the way into Knockturn Alley." Fred said.

"I wouldn't get to close. Who knows what will be coming out from there?" George said.

The shape began to move closer to them and more into the light. Soon they were able to see that the shape was not some sort of creature. It was a human that had a black blob with it, though the closer it got, they could tell it was a child with a giant dog. Suddenly, the person became clearer until Ron realized who that person was.

"HARRY!"

**AN: Yes, chapter 4 is done. Sorry it's so short. It is meant as a sort of filler. The story will continue with Harry next chapter. The interlude was going to be added earlier but then I held off until later. After a virus a few months ago the file became MIA. When I went on an organizing frenzy, I found it saved amongst my pictures. It was only about 200 words so I had to add to make it complete. **


End file.
